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Prof. Mona El-Ghobashy discusses Egypt's upheaval

As the political situation in Egypt continues to evolve, political science professor Mona El-Ghobashy is quoted in The New York Times discussing the governmental upheaval. An excerpt:

"Mr. Morsi and the Brotherhood faced daunting obstacles, said Prof. Mona el-Ghobashy, who teaches political science at Barnard College and studies the Brotherhood. “The first elected president as a product of revolutionary upheaval is already in a hazardous position,” she said. “He was not only the first, but he was elected by the skin of an onion,” she said, with just over 51 percent of the vote.

Mr. Morsi was ill equipped to soothe the nation, a party oligarch who hailed from the “most conservative flank of the most conservative organization,” Professor Ghobashy said. And the Brotherhood, seeking to tighten its grip on power, favored “elite level machinations” — like neutralizing the military — rather than the public and its needs, she said.

“They are old-style politicians. The people are trotted out to give you their vote. Then, ‘Go back home, and let the leaders take care of you,’ ” Professor Ghobashy said. “The newly empowered public, which doesn’t have fixed allegiances to the felool” — the remnants of the old government — “or the Brotherhood, need you to deliver.”"

Prof. El-Ghobashy is assistant professor of political science. Born and raised in Cairo, her work focuses on the politics of the Middle East and North Africa, with an emphasis on social movements and democratization.